Lighter holder

ABSTRACT

A lighter holder has a back portion attached to a clip, where the clip secures the lighter holder to a top, bottom, or side of a cigarette pack. An opening on at least the front portion of the lighter holder allows the user to push the lighter out of the holder more easily, which then enables to user to grab the lighter and pull it completely out of the holder.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention

The present invention generally relates to lighter holders, and moreparticularly to lighter holders that can clip on cigarette packages.

2. Related Art

The sales and use of cigarettes are substantial throughout the world.Smokers typically take their cigarettes wherever they go, such as intheir purses, pockets, jackets, pants, and briefcases to name a few.This gives them the opportunity to smoke wherever and whenever theydesire. However, as most smokers know, it is not always easy to locate amatch or lighter when you want to smoke. As a result, smokers usuallycarry something to light their cigarettes, with matches and lightersbeing the most common.

Among lighters, disposable butane lighters are widely used to lightcigarettes. These disposable lighters are very inexpensive and readilyavailable at most locations where cigarettes are sold. Because of thelow cost, smokers do not have to worry about losing the lighters, and asa result, are oftentimes careless in keeping track of the lighters.Consequently, even though the smoker may have the cigarettes, the smokermay not be able to locate their lighter to light the cigarette, such asmisplacing the lighter or forgetting to bring along the lighter. Thus,it is important for smokers to have their lighter handy and availablewith their cigarettes.

To address this problem, there have been many attempts in the past toprovide lighter holders that can be attached to a pack of cigarettes.One type of holder attaches to the side of the pack, with some sort ofretaining mechanism to hold the lighter. Such holders have a tendency tobe bulky since it increases the girth of pack of cigarettes. Also, sometypes of retention mechanisms do not securely attach to the pack ofcigarettes, which results in loss of both the lighter and the holder.

Another type of holder clips on the top, bottom, or side of a cigarettepack. An example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. D489,478, entitled “Lighterwith Clip”. Here, the lighter holder has a clip that slides onto a sideof the pack to secure the holder to the pack. The holder also has anopening, into which a disposable butane lighter fits. The opening isdesigned to fit the shape of the butane lighter. A small hole is locatedat the bottom of the opening to allow the lighter to be more easilyinserted into the opening. Without the opening, air would have to escapethrough the sides as the lighter is inserted, which makes insertion moredifficult. Once fully inserted, only a small upper portion of thelighter is exposed. The lighter is then removed by pulling on this smallportion. The disadvantage of this design is that the lighter may bedifficult to remove, especially when the fit is tight, such as when theholder is new.

Therefore, there is a need for a lighter holder that overcomes thedisadvantages of conventional holders discussed above.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present invention, a lighter holder has alighter holder portion having an opening configured to hold aconventional lighter and a flexible flap attached to the holder portionin parallel with lighter holder portion. The opening is configured suchthat a conventional lighter can fit into the opening. An additionalopening is provided along the front bottom portion, where a surfaceextends partially along the bottom portion from the back of the lighterholder to support the lighter. This additional opening allows the userto easily remove the lighter by simply pushing the lighter up and out ofthe opening, such as the user's thumb. As a result, more of the lighteris exposed through the top portion of the lighter holder, allowing theuser to more easily pull the lighter completely out of the holder.

In one embodiment, the lighter holder portion and the flexible flap areapproximately the width of a side or top of a pack of cigarettes. Theflap is made of a plastic and is attached to the holder portion byanother piece of plastic along the top portion of the holder portion.The free end of the clip is pressed into the body of the holder portion.Thus, the clip can be simply slipped into an opening of the pack ofcigarettes and held securely thereto.

In one embodiment, the lighter holder portion has an approximatelyelliptical/rectangular opening to fit a conventional disposable butanelighter. The main opening is deep enough such that the lighter is heldsecurely by the holder portion. The additional opening is along at leastthe front bottom part of the holder portion and is large enough for auser's thumb to contact a sufficiently large area of the lighter toallow easy movement of the lighter out of the main opening. In anotherembodiment, the additional opening also extends along the sides of theholder portion, where the transition from the front to the sides arecurved. This allows the user to easily access the lighter.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the additional openingis provided along the top portion, away from the flexible flap. Thisadditional opening also allows the user to push the lighter out ofopening partially to expose more of the top part of the lighter,enabling the user to easily remove the lighter. In this embodiment, theadditional opening along the top also allows simpler insertion sincethere is more of an opening with which to insert the lighter.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will bemore readily apparent from the detailed description of the preferredembodiments set forth below taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a front view of a lighter holder according to one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a side view of the lighter holder of FIG. 1A, with thelighter contained completely within the holder;

FIG. 1C is a side view of the lighter holder of FIG. 1A, with thelighter pushed partially out of the holder;

FIG. 1D is a back view of the lighter holder of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 1E is a bottom view of the lighter holder of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a lighter holder according to a secondembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a lighter holder according to a thirdembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4A is front view of a lighter holder according to a fourthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a side view of the lighter of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5 is a side view of a lighter holder according to a fifthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a lighter holder according to a sixthembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a side view of a lighter holder according to a seventhembodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention and their advantages are bestunderstood by referring to the detailed description that follows. Itshould be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identifylike elements illustrated in one or more of the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1A-1E show various views of a lighter holder 100 according to oneembodiment of the invention. Lighter holder 100 is a unitary device madeof injection molded plastic, although other materials may also besuitable, such as glass-filled plastic, polyethylene or polypropylenehaving an appropriate density. The physical properties of the materialto be used will depend upon, and will influence, the thicknesses ofvarious parts of lighter holder 100. Lighter holder 100 includes alighter holder body or portion 102 (FIGS. 1A-1D) having an opening 104at the top for accepting and holding a conventional lighter (not shown).The opening is shaped to snuggly fit the lighter. In this embodiment,the opening is a partial elliptical/partial rectangular shape to fitconventional disposable butane lighters. Other shaped openings may alsobe suitable, depending on the fit and shape of the lighter.

As seen from FIGS. 1A-1D, holder body 102 is formed with an additionalopening 106 along the front and side of the bottom portion of holderbody 102. This additional opening 106 enables the user to more easilyremove the lighter once it is inserted into opening 104, as will bediscussed below. As seen from FIGS. 1B and 1C, additional opening 106has a curved portion 108 and does not extend completely through the sideof holder body 102. Further, additional opening 106 does not extendcompletely to the back of holder body 102. A surface 118 extendspartially from the back of holder body 102 to prevent the lighter fromfalling through holder body 102.

Referring to FIGS. 1A-1D, lighter holder 100 also includes a flap 110attached to the upper portion of holder body 102. Flap 110 can be formedunitarily with holder body 102. From the attached portion of holder body102, flap 110 extends upward to a length such that the lighter, whenfully inserted into holder body 102, does not protrude past the top offlap 110. Flap 110 then extends down at an angle and into holder body102. In other words, flap 110 is not parallel to holder body 102. Thebottom of flap 110 is pressed against holder body 102. Flap 110 isflexible such that flap 110 can be moved away from holder body 102 toslide a portion of the top (or bottom) of the pack of cigarettes betweenflap 110 and holder body 102. A small protrusion 112 may be formed onthe inner surface of flap 110 to help secure the cigarette pack tolighter holder 100.

In one type of use, lighter holder 100 is held in one hand, while a packof cigarettes is held in another hand. Flap 110 is slid into an openingon the side of a top of the pack of cigarettes. Holder body 102 is nowsecured to the top of the pack of cigarettes. Referring to FIG. 1B, alighter 120 can then be inserted into lighter holder 100 by simplypushing the lighter into opening 104. The lighter can also be placedinto lighter holder 100 prior to attaching lighter holder 100 to thepack of cigarettes. Lighter 120 is now secured to the pack ofcigarettes, which greatly minimizes the chances of misplacing orforgetting the lighter. As seen from FIG. 1B, a bottom portion oflighter 120 is exposed along the bottom portion of holder body 102, anda top portion of lighter 102 is exposed through the top portion ofholder body 102.

To remove lighter 120 from lighter holder 100, the user can place athumb onto lighter 120 through additional opening 106 and push thelighter partly out of holder body 102. A much larger area is nowavailable for the user to grab and remove the lighter completely, asshown in FIG. 1C. Thus, the lighter can be much more easily removed withthe present invention than with conventional lighter holders.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a lighter holder 200 according to a secondembodiment of the present invention. Lighter holder 200 is similar tolighter holder 100 of FIGS. 1A-1E, except that the additional openingdoes not have a curved portion, but instead has an angled portion 202,e.g., 90°. Depending on design and/or manufacturing issues, this maydesirable over a curved portion.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a lighter holder 300 according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention. Lighter holder 300 is similar tolighter holder 100, except that the additional opening is only at thefront of holder body 102 and does not extend at all into the sides. Inthis embodiment, the user can only use the exposed front portion to movethe lighter partially out of holder body 102 for eventual removal.However, for design and/or manufacturing factors, this may be desirable.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are front and side views of a lighter holder 400according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In thisembodiment, lighter holder 400 has an additional opening 402 along thefront and side of the top of holder body 102, instead of the bottom.Additional opening 402 has a curved portion 404 and does not extendcompletely through the side of holder body 102. Other features aresimilar to lighter holder 100 and thus descriptions will be omittedwhere redundant.

In one type of use, to remove the lighter from lighter holder 400, theuser can place a thumb onto the lighter through additional opening 402and push the lighter partly out of holder body 102. The main differencewith this embodiment is that the pushing is along a side portion of thelighter, instead of the bottom portion. However, similar to the previousembodiments, a much larger area is now available for the user to graband remove the lighter completely. With the present embodiment, thepartial side openings also enable the user to grab the lighter throughthese openings and pull the lighter out completely. Thus, the lightercan be much more easily removed with the present invention than withconventional lighter holders.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a lighter holder 500 according to a fifthembodiment of the present invention. Lighter holder 500 is similar tolighter holder 400 of FIGS. 4A and 4B, except that the additionalopening does not have a curved portion, but instead has an angledportion 502, e.g., 90°. Depending on design and/or manufacturing issues,this may desirable over a curved portion.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a lighter holder 600 according to a sixthembodiment. Again, lighter holder 600 is similar to previousembodiments, except that the additional opening on the side extendscompletely, instead of partially, to the back of holder body 102. Thisexposes a larger area on the lighter for the user to grab and remove thelighter.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a lighter holder 700 according to a seventhembodiment of the present invention. Lighter holder 700 is similar tolighter holder 400, except that the additional opening is only at thefront of holder body 102 and does not extend at all into the sides. Inthis embodiment, the user can only use the exposed front portion to movethe lighter partially out of holder body 102 for eventual removal.However, for design and/or manufacturing factors, this may be desirable.

Having thus described embodiments of the present invention, personsskilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form anddetail without departing from the scope of the invention. For example,the above description shows openings on both sides of the lighterholder. However, only one side may have an opening, whether partial orcomplete. Thus the invention is limited only by the following claims.

1. A lighter holder, comprising: two opposing side portions; a backportion connecting the two side portions; a front portion connecting thetwo side portions and having a length less than the length of the backportion to create a first opening along the top bottom area of thelighter holder; a bottom portion partially extending from the packportion and connecting the side and back portions, wherein the bottom,side, back, and front portions form a cavity configured to accept alighter; and a flap portion connected to the top of the back portion andangled inward toward a lower area of the back portion.
 2. The lighterholder of claim 1, wherein at least one side portion has a length lessthan the length of the back portion to create a second opening along abottom side area of the lighter holder.
 3. The lighter holder of claim2, wherein both side portions have a length less than the length of theback portion to create a second opening along both top bottom areas ofthe lighter holder.
 4. The lighter holder of claim 1, wherein the flapportion extends above the top of the back portion.
 5. The lighter holderof claim 1, wherein the bottom portion extends completely to the frontportion.
 6. The lighter holder of claim 2, wherein the second openingextends partially along the bottom side area.
 7. The lighter holder ofclaim 1, wherein the second opening extends completely to the backportion.
 8. The lighter holder of claim 2, wherein the interface betweenthe first and second openings is curved.
 9. The lighter holder of claim2, wherein the interface between the first and second openings isangled.
 10. A lighter holder, comprising: two opposing side portions; aback portion connecting the two side portions; a front portionconnecting the two side portions and having a length less than thelength of the back portion to create a first opening along the top frontarea of the lighter holder; a bottom portion connecting the side, back,and front portions, wherein the bottom, side, back, and front portionsform a cavity configured to accept a lighter; and a flap portionconnected to the top of the back portion and angled inward toward alower area of the back portion.
 11. The lighter holder of claim 10,wherein at least one side portion has a length less than the length ofthe back portion to create a second opening along a top side area of thelighter holder.
 12. The lighter holder of claim 11, wherein both sideportions have a length less than the length of the back portion tocreate a second opening along both top side areas of the lighter holder.13. The lighter holder of claim 11, wherein the second opening extendscompletely to the back portion.
 14. The lighter holder of claim 11,wherein the second opening extends partially along the top side area.15. The lighter holder of claim 11, wherein the interface between thefirst and second openings is curved.
 16. The lighter holder of claim 11,wherein the interface between the first and second openings is angled.17. A method of removing a lighter from a lighter holder, the methodcomprising: pushing the lighter through an first opening on a frontportion of the lighter holder; and grasping an upper portion of thelighter; and pulling the lighter completely out of the lighter holder.18. The method of claim 17, wherein the pushing is by a user's thumb.19. The method of claim 17, wherein the first opening is along an upperportion of the lighter holder.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein thefirst opening is along a lower portion of the lighter holder.
 21. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the pushing is also through an opening alonga bottom portion of the lighter holder.